Chocolate Christmas Yule Log Cake (Bûche de Noël)

A Yule log is a traditional dessert served in France, Switzerland, and Belgium where it is called bûche de Noël. It is made of a roll cake covered in chocolate frosting. It is meant to represent a real yule log in a miniature form. Learn how to make this simple chocolate Yule log Cake with this fool proof recipe that will take your through every step of the way: making the roll cake from scratch, rolling the cake (without it breaking!) and later filling and frosting the log cake. If you are looking for Christmas dessert ideas, you are in the right place 😊 Hope you love it!

Utensils and Ingredient notes

How to make this recipe

This yule log recipe is very straight forward. You only need to assemble 2 components:

• A roll cake: it should be cold when you assemble the cake
• Dulce de leche & chocolate ganache: must be prepared the day before and kept covered at room temperature.

Once both elements are ready to go, you must:

• Unroll the cooled off sponge cake.
• Cover the roll cake with a thin layer of dulce de leche & chocolate ganache.
• Starting from the narrow end roll it very slowly as tightly as possible.
• Cover with ganache and make it look like a Yule log using a small spatula or a fork.
• Enjoy!

Step-by step instructions: the roll cake

This roll cake recipe is not hard to make. There are some tips and tricks I share below to make it a huge success!

• Grease and line a 30x40 cm tray with parchment paper.
• Beat the egg yolks, the egg and sugar until it has doubled in volume and changed to a pale-yellow colour. About 10 minutes if using an electric mixer. Set aside.
• Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Start with a pinch of the 30 g of sugar. When they are almost ready, add the rest of the sugar and beat at maximum speed until they hold stiff peaks. It is important not to overbeat the egg whites because they will break and become liquid.
• Fold in the egg whites into the egg yolk/sugar mixture delicately.
• Fold in the melted butter. To do this, add a little cake batter into the melted butter and whisk until combined. Pour this mixture back onto the cake batter and fold in delicately.
• Finally, fold in the sifted flour. Make sure to this slowly to avoid deflating the cake.
• Transfer onto the lined tray and spread evenly using a pastry horn or an offset spatula.
• Bake at 220 C° for 9 minutes.
• Invert the cake onto a parchment paper dusted with powdered sugar as soon as you remove it from the oven. Peel off the parchment paper that was on the bottom of the yule log cake as it baked.

Frosting notes

To decorate the yule log cake, you must:

• Have the chocolate dulce de leche ganache ready. You want to make it a day in advance, so it has time to properly set and obtain the texture needed to decorate your cake.
• First transfer the cake to a cutting board.
• Then, cover with a generous layer of chocolate dulce de leche ganache leaving the ends exposed.
• Finally, using a fork or a small spatula create bark lines in the cake that emulate a real yule log. Have fun with this part! Does not have to be perfect!
• Transfer onto a serving plate and enjoy!

Recipe notes

• Grease the baking tray using baking spray to stick the parchment paper onto it. Then spray the parchment paper, in order to be able to remove the cake from it without any accidents!
• When folding in the flour into the cake batter, make sure to this slowly to avoid deflating the cake.
• To peel of the parchment paper off the bottom of the cake, once it has been flipped, use a baking tray or a cutting board and gently press onto the cake as you pull the parchment paper away. This way you ensure no cake comes off stuck onto the parchment paper!
• The plastic wrap that covers the chocolate ganache should be in contact with it to prevent the formation of a hard layer.
• When frosting the log cake, its best to do it on a cutting board first, to avoid making a mess on the serving plate. Once its ready, you can transfer to a serving plate using a long offset spatula. Re-adjust frosting if needed.

Expert notes: Rolling the cake without cracks

Rolling the yule log cake without it cracking is not an easy task. There are many ways of going about this, according to the internet. Lucky for you I have tried them all. And this is what really works:

• As soon as you remove the cake from the oven turn onto a piece of parchment paper dusted with powdered sugar. Leave about 2/3 cm of free parchment paper on the short end (long end does not really matter).
• Using a serrated knife cut the edges to make the cake straight. Cut the edge of one of the short sides of the cake diagonally.
• Dust with powdered sugar.
• Fold the 3 cm of parchment paper over the cake on the short that has a straight edge end and slowly start rolling it as tightly as possible. This must be done when the cake is still warm!
• Let it cool down rolled and covered with the parchment paper.
• Once it has cooled down, unroll, fill and decorate your yule log cake.

Storage Tips

This cake can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 days.

If you prefer to refrigerator, you can keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Either way, you must cover both ends of the log cake with film wrap to keep it moist and prevent the edges from drying out.

Freezer instructions

Once it has been decorated, the yule log cake cannot be frozen.

You can freeze the roll cake, rolled, and covered in parchment paper.

To defrost: Let it sit at room temperature for about 4 hours. Unroll delicately, fill and frost with the dulce de leche ganache. Make sure is has completely defrosted before unrolling.

However, I personally prefer to have this it freshly baked.

Making ahead

• The sponge roll cake: you can make ahead and keep rolled, covered in parchment paper, and wrapped in film wrap, for up to 3 days. Place in the refrigerator only once it has completely cooled off.
• Chocolate dulce de leche ganache: must be made at least 1 day in advance and up to 3 days in advance. Keep covered in plastic wrap at room temperature.